Please be advised that this episode includes some discussion of sexual abuse.

Hello and welcome to this brand new series of Legacy.

In this series, a woman described as the most photographed person of the 20th century.

Over 50 years since her death, she's still a byword for both glamour and tragedy,

something that's also set a precedent for so many other great female stars of the stage and screen who have followed in her wake.

But we so often don't seem to get that much deeper into her story and her legacy than those two big ideas of glamour and tragedy.

We feel like we know her because her image is so omnipresent, but her legacy is far more nuanced and complex than people realize.

This series, Afro and I are going to be talking about Marilyn Monroe. I struggle to think of a single

figure from the 20th century who is more recognisable. I don't really like the word iconic,

but that's how she is, I think. And yet, as you say, Afro, her life was one which I don't really like the word iconic, but that's how she is, I think. And yet,

as you say, after her life was one which we don't really know too much about. She was an abuse child

who became a Hollywood star. She was manipulated and misused by the men around her, but she also

had an incredible drive and a skill in creating her own legend and her own story.

And that image is so central to her legacy.

From Wondering Goldhanger, I'm Peter Frankopin.

I'm Afwa Hirsch.

And this is Legacy, the show that tells the lives of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived,

and asks if they have the reputation that they deserve.

Thank you. This is Marilyn Monroe, Episode 1, The Foster Kid Who Loved the Movies. So before we get to the nuance, let's look into the headlines.

What's the image that you think of after when you hear her name?

For me, it's not one of the specific photos that have become so famous,

although I can instantly conjure some of those when

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